Apparatus for spraying rotating radial surfaces



Oct. 14, 1952 w. MaCWlLLlAM APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING ROTATING RADIALSURFACES ZSHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Jan. 24, 1949 HNVENTOR,

,fuym x/a y ATTwP/vz: Y5

TELTE- Oct. 14, 1952 w. M wlLLlAM APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING ROTATING RADIALSURFACES 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed Jan. 24, 1949 INVENTOR. 11 Mwlfil/m BY KWa K1474 HTTU/P/VfVS Patented Oct. 14, 1952 APPARATUS FOR sPaAYiNoROTATING RADIAL SURFACES Wallace lt'Ia cWilliain, Boonton,.N. .L,assignor to Eclipse Air Brush 00., Newark, N. 3., a corporation of NewJersey Application January 24, 1949, Serial No. 72,411

8 Claims. (Cl. 11s' 31'e) solvedheretofore either by using rnultipleguns f xed at each drum head or by using movable guns adapted totraverse the drum heads.

pne isst f he t ntiqei cs a rotating radial surfaces in a unif ormmanner. Another object is to provide a spray painting machine \vhichspray paints such surfaces with eeni e im coating- 1 A iurt e ect i tprovide subcombinations of elements adapted tor use in such a; machineand which contribute towards tta nm t .Qf. t foregoing detect i ma mee nc mer e ui ement i, r s e n nuggedness, economy, foolproofness, and thelike. Still other objects may be inferred. v Us The presently preferredform of theinvention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings asembodied in an automatic drum head spray painting machine, the variousfigures being as follows: 7 it v 1v is a top view of a drive andcountershaft assembly forming the top portion of the machine, certainlower elementsbeing eliminated in the interest of clarity; v

Fig; 2 is a side view of the complete machine showing the drive andcountershaft assembly of Fig; land its location and all the other partstherebelow and including in broken lines a steel drum with itsheadsbeing spray painted;

Fig.3 is an end view of Fig; 2; s 7 1 V lis a cross section of thedriveand countrshaft assembly taken from Fig. 2 as indicated by the line4-4} and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view taken from the line 5 -5 in Fig. 3for the purpose of showing a spray angularity not adequately illustratedotherwise.

In these drawings the'drum D is shown by broken lines. The machineprovides a cradle formed'by four rectangularly arranged wheels I whichare generally shaped like railroad wheels so they provide inwardlytapered drum supporting surfaces 2 having flanges 3 for engaging thedruzn'ends' and preventing axial drum motion. The drum is horizontallycradled by these wheels l. withthe latter appropriately positionedbyhorizontally jcurnaled shafts l, of lwhichbothare rotatively poweredvby the sprocket wheel 5 connected by the sprocket chain 6 with thesprocket wheel 1 on the shaft of an electric rotary motor M. Thosewheels ,I which are on the shaftsarfi keyed thereto. Therefore,operation of the motor M, which is an electrical motor whosezspeed iscapable of good control, serves to rotate. the drum D about its axis.with this axis relatively fixed due to the form and arrangement of thewheels I whichcarry it.

, Levers 8 are each fulerurneclon an axis parallel to and radiallyoffset from the rotary axis of the cradleddrum D by being keyed to thehorizontal shafts}! of right angle gear drives Ii] having their verticalshafts l l connected to the vertical shafts lZ of other generallysimilar right angle, gear drives 13, by vertical shafts I4 provided withuniversal joints 55. The drives it! are elevated above the drum D whenas supported by the wheels l and the drives l3 are above the drives It;with the shafts I l and the universal joints. l5 permitting horizontalmovement of the drives Ill axially of the drumD. For this purpose thedrives H] are slidably mounted on horizontal supports it and providedwith releasable fastenings'ilfor fixing thepos'ition of the drive's l0and henc'ethe'levers 8' relative, the drum heads. These horizontalsupports it may be'supported by an adequate superstructure or suspendedfrom the shop ceiling,, this applying also to the drives l3ja'nd anyother elevated equipment. The particular arrangement used for thispurpose is not illustrated in the interest of avoiding confusion in thedrawings. f v

e he horizontal shaftsof the right angle gear drivesl3 areinterconnected by a countershaft l8 to which a lever 19 is keyed withits swinging end connectedby a connecting rod 20 to a cranlgZl lr'ey'edto a drive shaft Z2 power-ed byanelectric rotary motor 23' through areduction gear drive 241 With this arrangement, as the; motor 23 slowlydrives the shaft 22 through the gear drive 24, the crank 21 rotatestherewith, and the connecting rod 20 oscillates the lever l9 tooscillate the shaft 18 and hence the levers 8 depending from thehorizontal shafts 9 of the right angle gear drives 10} The lower ends ofthe levels 8 are thus caused to" traverse the heads-of the cradled drumD; and these lower ends mount automatic fan spray guns 25. These gunsare of the type like a manual fan spray gun, excepting thatvthey areoperated by a pilot plunger adapted to be remotely controlled by theadmission of pilot air pressure. It should also be understood that a fanspray is a relatively fiat flaring spray ejected from a spray gun havinga spray head designed to so shape the spray.

The fan spray guns 25 are mounted by the lower ends of the levers 8 sothat the fan spray is ejected approximately in alignment with the levers8 in each instance. The levers 8 are shown as having lengthsapproximately equaling the drum diameter, and their mounting shafts 9are positioned high enough so that the lower ends of the fan spraysterminate about at th drum axis. The shafts 9 are positioned in radialalignment with drum axis and are vertically thereabove and when thelevers 8 are swung in alignment with the drum axis and the axes of theshafts 9, the fan spray is oriented approximately radially respectingthe drum head in each instance. When the levers 8 are swung outwardly sothey are opposite the periphery of the drum or are close thereto the fanspray is oriented approximately tangentially respecting the drum head ineach instance. the fan spray rotates so as to provide transitionalorientations between the radial and tangential orientations at the innerand outer extremes of its swing in each instance. The spray guns 25 areeach arranged to eject their fan sprays transversely towards the drumheads and in each instance at outwardly inclined angles as shown by Fig.5.

Allof the right angle gear drives have 1 to 1 gear ratios and the upperdrive and countershaft assembly is organized so that when the crank 2|is aligned with the link the arms 8 are opposite the periphery of thedrum heads and when the crank 2| and connecting rod 20 are at rightangles the levers 8 are at the axes of the drum heads. The organizationis such that at this time the lever I9 is vertical. This lever l9oscillates with rotation of the crank 2| as it is driven by the motor23. late back and forth while completely traversing the drum heads.

The illustrated machine is designed for full automatic operation, theautomatic spray guns having their pilot pressure connected with a pilotvalve 26 worked by a cam 21 on the shaft 22. There is also a limitswitch 28 worked by a cam 29 on the shaft 22. This limit switch 28 isconnected by an electric circuit to control the motor 23 so that uponinitial energization the crank 2| makes one complete rotation and thenstops until the circuit is energized again, with a manually operatedpush button used to initiate each cycle. The cam 21 is arranged so thatas the crank 2| starts to align with the connecting rod 20 while thelevers 8 are at their outer swinging extremes where the fan spray guns25 are pointing outwardly as shown by Fig. 5, pilot pressure is admittedto the guns 25 so that they start to eject their fan sprays, and this iscontinued until the levers 8 swing to positions where they are oppositethe central portions of the drum heads with the fan sprays extendingradially from the drum head axis, whereupon the pilot pressure isdiscontinued so the spray ceases.

In the above operation the drum D is, of course, rotating when the sprayguns are pointing towards the peripheral portions of its drum heads.These drum heads receive at this time the maximum amount of sprayperipherally for each revolution because of the tangential orientationsof the fan sprays. The arrangements should be such that as sprayingstarts the fan sprays are pointingat their outward inclinations so thatThus the arms 8 oscil- At positions in between their spray ends justreach into the chines of the drum, the outward inclinations assuringthat these chines are thoroughly sprayed.

As the crank 2| and link 20 begin to leave their aligned positions themechanical advantage is so great that there is time for the drum headsto turn at least twice so as to positively avoid an unsprayed portionbetween the ends of the fan sprays. There is no chance for the side ofthe drum to be sprayed because of the outward inclinations of the sprayguns, this being another important advantage of this angularity since itis frequently desired to paint the sides of the drum a different colorfrom its heads.

As the crank 2| continues to rotate and gradually approach rightangularity with the connecting rod 20, the traversing speeds of the arms8 correspondingly increase in accordance with the laws of mechanicsinvolved. Since the spray guns are rigidly fixed to the ends of the arms8 and the latter are swung about the axis formed by the shafts 9, thefan sprays gradually leave their tangential orientations and rotate, ineffect, about their own axes relative the drum heads and as they beginto approach their radial orientations they are swinging faster. The drumhead portions that are sprayed are, of course, moving slower since theyare closer and closer the drum axis. By proper relation of these variouseffects the drum heads may be sprayed in a completely uniform manner.

The rotating speed of the drum must be correlated to the swinging speedsof the levers 8 to prevent the fan sprays from forming spiral patternson the drum heads. This is particularly important while the arms areopposite the peripheral portions of the drum heads with the fan spraysoriented tangentially respecting the drum heads.

Knowing the fan sprays dimensions, the dimensions of the various leversand of the crank 2|, and the latters rotating speed, it is possible tomathematically compute the proper drum rotating speed required. With themotor I capable of good speed control it is also possible to vary it asrequired to visually produce the desired uniform results.

In the case of the specific example illustrated, the drum heads are 23/4 inches in diameter and the motor I is set to rotate the drum at R. P.M. The fan spray pattern is 6 inches long and /2 inch wide or thick, andthe levers 8 are about 24 inches long. The right angle gear drives allhave 1 to 1 gear ratios, and the crank 2| and lever H) are dimensionedas required to fully swing the levers 8 from the drum heads periphery tothe center while the crank 2| turns from alignment with the connectingrod 28 to the right angular association therewith. With this arrangementa crank speed of 8.24 R. P. M. produces the desired results. The fansprays are set to automatically start as the crank 2| reaches deadcenter and before it can break its toggle linkage with the lever [9 thedrum heads have time to turn enough to avoid uncoated peripheralportions. The cam 21 is set to cut off the pilot pressure, to theautomatic spray gun, just as the fan sprays become aligned with the drumheads axis. This means that the levers 8 swing a little beyond the axisof the'drum, it being remembered that the fan spray guns are set toeject their fan sprays at the outward inclinations required to paint thechines and avoid painting of the drum sides.

Some difficulty may be experienced in properly obtained by this machine.This as races spray-painting the bung hole, so themachine is providedwith a fixed automatic spray gun 3|] -which may eject an ordinary roundspray in alignment with the bung hole, it may be used 'whenrequired-forthis special purpose.

It is to be'noted that a manual fan 'spraygun may be manipulated toimitate the motions involves a method phase that is believed novel.Although apparently more complicated, the various orientati'ons andtraverse of the fan spray might be imitated more or less by using a truelinear traverse with rotation of the fan spray effected by ham-action orthe like. Various other ways may be'sug gested-by thoseskilled in theart for doing substantially the same thing in substantially the samemanner as disclosed by the description of this 'specific form of thepresent invention.

The fan spray has been described as oriented approximately tangentiallyrespecting the drum header-disk. With the lever 8 arranged so that whenitis at thedrum heads center it is truly radial therewith, asillustrated, better results may be obtained by orienting the fan spray,by arranging the gun, so the spray is at a angle withthelever. It may begiven an angle as large as-4s with the lever and still provide someof't'he described advantages. But the fan spray should in each instancebe substantiallyor approximately tangential to the rotating disk being acoated. it l'alimr- Apparatus for spraying a radial surface rotatingabout a fixed axis, said apparatus including means for rotating saidsurface about a fixedaxis, a lever,a pivotal support positioned at alocation offset radially from said axis and mounting said lever by oneend so that the other *l'everend swingingly traverses said surface, infront thereof 'andsubstantially parallel thereto, and a fan spray gunmounted on said swinging 'lever end to swing therewith and directed toeject its fan spray ina plane aligned radially with said pivotal supportand aimed towards said surface to'spray the latter, whereby said sprayis radially 'orientedfrespecting said rotating surf aces axiswhen'j'said lever is swung to position said spray 'gunopp'osite to saidaxis, the distancebetween said spray gun and said pivotal "support beingproportioned to cause thejp'lane ors aid'ranspray to be orientedsubstantially tangentially to the rotation of said rotating "radial"surface when said lever is swung to .po'sitionsaid spray gunc'ipposi'tetothe peripheral portion "of saidsurface. 72. Apparatus for,-spraying a radial surface i'otatingabout a fixed axis, said "apparatusincludingflmean's for rotatingfsaid surface about a fixed'axi's, alever, a pivotal support positioned at' a location offset radially fromsaid axis and mountingsaid lever by one end-so that theother lever endswin'gingly traverses said-surface in front thereof and substantiallyparallel thereto, andaifan spray gun mounted on said swinging lever endto swing therewith and directed to eject its fan sprayin a planealignedradially with saidpivotal support and aimed towards said surface'to'spray the latter, whereby said spray is radially oriented respectingsaid rotating surfaces axis whensaid lever is swung to position saidspray gun opposite to said axis, the distance between said spraygun andsaidpivotal support being proportioned to cause the plane of said fanspray to be oriented substantially tangentially to the rotation of saidrotatingradial surface when said lever is swung to position said spraygun 6 opposite to the peripheral portion of said surface, said distanceapproximatelyequalling thediameter of said sur-face s peripheryand saidpivotal support b'eing offset from said surface s axis a "distancecausing the end of said fan spray "most remote fromsa'id support toterminate about at said 'axis. I

'3. Apparatus for spraying a radial surface .ro

tating about afixed axis, said apparatus including means f'or'rotatingsaid sur'face about a fixed ax-is, a lever, a pivotal su-pportpositioned at a location oifset ra'diallyfrom said axis andmcunting saidlever by one end "so that the other lever end swingingly traverses-saidsurface in front thereof and substantially parallel "thereto, and-"a fanspray gun mounted on said swinging lever end to swing therewith anddirected to eject its ran spray in a plane aligned radially with saidpivotal support and aimed towards said surface te -spray the latterwhereby said spray is radially forient'ed respecting said rotatingsurfaces axis when said lever is swung to position said "spray gunopposite to said axis, the distance between said spray gun and saidpivotal support being proportionedto cause thepla'ne of said fan sprayto be orientedsubst'antially tangentially to the rotation of saidrotating radial surface when said lever is swung to position saidspraygun opposite 'to the peripheral portion of said surface, said'apparatus including a rotating crank and connecting rod therefor andmeans connecting saidrod with said lever to swing the latterbetweensa'id positions, said crank and rod being mutually alignedsubstantiallywhen said lever is swungto apc'sition wheresaid spray gunispositioned opposite to said 'surfaces periphery.

.4. Apparatus for spraying a radial surface rotating about a fixed axis,said apparatus including means for rotatingsaid surface about a fixedaxis, a lever, a-pivo'tal support positioned at a location oirsetradially from said axis and mounting said lever-by one end so that theother lever end swingingly traverses said surface in front thereof andsubstantially parallel thereto, anda fan spray gun mountedcnsaidswinging lever-end to swing therewith and directed to eject itsfan sprayin a plane aligned radially with said pivotal support and aimedtowards said surface to spray the latter, whereby said spray is radiallyoriented respecting said rotating surfaces axis when said lever is swungto position said spray gun opposite to said axis, the distance betweensaid spray gun and saidpivotal support being proportioned to cause theplane of said fans'pray to be oriented substantially tangentially to therotation of said rotating radial surface when said lever is swung toposition said spray gun opposite to the peripheral portion of saidsurface, the position of said pivotal support being adjustable in theaxial di rection of said surface to adjust the distance between-saidspray gun and said surface, and said apparatus including a fixedlypositioned rotating crank and connecting rod therefor, and flexiblemeans interconnecting said crank and said lever toswingthelatterregardless of the adjusted position of said support, said crank and rodbeing mutually aligned substantially when said lever is swung to aposition where said spray gun is positioned opposite to said surfacesperiphery.

5. A-drum head spraying'machi'ne including a plurality ofrotary-elements arranged to cradle a drum with its axis horizontal,means for rotating at least-one of'said elements to rotate said drumaboutits axis, a lever for each head of said drum, pivotal supportspositioned at a level'above each of said drum heads and mounting saidlevers by one end in each instance so that their other ends depend infront of the respective drum heads and swing substantially parallelthereto so as to traverse said drum heads, a fan spray gun in eachinstance mounted on said swinging lever ends and each directed to ejectits fan spray in a plane aligned radially with the adjacent one of saidpivotal supports and aimed towards the adjacent one of said drum headsto spray the latter, whereby said sprays are radially orientedrespecting said drum heads when said levers are swung to position saidspray guns opposite to said drums axis, the distance between said sprayguns and said pivotal supports being proportioned so that when saidlevers are swung to position said spray heads opposite to the peripheralportions of said drum heads the planes of said sprays are orientedsubstantially tangentially to the rotation of said portions, wherebysaid fan sprays rotate to provide transitional orientations between saidnamed orientations when said levers swing between said lever positions.

6. A drum head spraying machine including a plurality of rotary elementsarranged to cradle a drum with its axis horizontal, means for rotatingat least one of said elements to rotate said drum about its axis, alever for each head of said drum, pivotal supports positioned ata levelabove each of said drum heads and mounting said levers by one-end ineach instance so that their other ends depend in front of the respectivedrum heads and swing substantially parallel thereto so as to traversesaid drum heads, a fan spray gun in each instance mounted on saidswinging lever ends and each directed to eject its fan spray in a planealigned radially with the adjacent one of said pivotal supports andaimed towards the adjacent one of said drum heads to spray the latter,where? by said sprays are radially oriented respecting said drum headswhen said levers are swung to position said spray guns opposite to saiddrums axis, the distance between said spray guns and said pivotalsupports being proportioned so that when said levers are swung toposition said spray heads opposite to the peripheral portions of saiddrum heads the planes of said sprays are oriented substantiallytangentially to the rotation of said portions, whereby said fan spraysrotate to provide transitional orientations between said namedorientations when said levers swing between said lever positions, saidspray heads in each instance being positioned on said levers to ejecttheir sprays at a slight angle so as to spray into the drum chines andaway from the drum side when said levers are swung to position saidspray guns at the drum head peripheries.

7. A drum head spraying machine including a plurality of rotary elementsarranged to cradle a drum with its axis horizontal, means for rotatingat least one of said elements to rotate said drum about its axis, alever for each head of said drum, pivotal supports positioned at a levelabove each of said drum heads and mounting said levers by one end ineach instance so that their other ends depend in front of the respectivedrum heads and swing substantially parallel thereto so as to traversesaid drum heads, a fan spray gun in each instance mounted on saidswinging lever ends and each directed to eject its fan spray in a planealigned radially withthe adjacent one of said pivotal supports and aimedtowards the adjacent one of said drum heads to spray the latter, wherebysaid sprays are rad ially oriented respecting said drum heads whensaidlevers are swung to position said spray guns opposite to said drumsaxis, the distance between said spray guns and said pivotal supportsbeing proportioned so that when said levers are swung to position saidspray heads opposite to the peripheral portions of said drum heads theplanes of said sprays are oriented substantially tangentially to therotation of said portions, whereby said fan sprays rotate to providetransitional orientations between said named orientations when saidlevers swing between said lever positions, said machine including acrank and connecting rod therefor for each of said levers, and meansconnecting said connecting rod with said levers in each instance so thatsaid crank and said connecting rod are mutually aligned whenitsconnected one of said levers is swung to position its spray gunopposite to the periphery of the adjacent one of said drum heads.

8. A drum head spraying machine including a plurality of rotary elementsarranged to cradle a drum with its axis horizontal, means for rotatingat least one of said elements to rotate said drum aboutits axis, a leverfor each head of said drum, pivotal supports positioned at a level aboveeach of said drum heads and mounting said levers by one end in eachinstance so that their other ends depend in front of the respective drumheads and swing substantially parallel thereto so as to traverse saiddrum heads, a fan spray gun in each instance mounted on said swinginglever ends and each directed to eject its fan spray in a plane alignedradially with the adjacent one of said pivotal supports and aimedtowards the adjacent one of said drum heads to spray the latter, wherebysaid sprays are radially oriented respecting said drum heads when saidlevers are swung to position said spray guns opposite to said drumsaxis, the distance between said spray guns and said pivotal supportsbeing proportioned so that when said levers are swung to position saidspray heads opposite to the peripheral portions of said drum heads theplanes of said sprays are oriented substantially tangentially to therotation of said portions, whereby said fan sprays rotate to providetransitional orientations between said named orientations when saidlevers swing between said lever positions, said machine including acrank and connecting rod therefor for each of said levers, and meansconnecting said connecting rod with said levers in each instance so thatsaid crank and said connecting rod are mutually aligned when itsconnected one of said levers is swung to position its spray gun oppositeto the periphery of the adjacent one of said drum heads, the positionsof said pivotal supports being axially adjustable respecting said drumand said crank and connecting rod being fixed in position, saidconnecting means including flexible connecting elements permitting saidadjustment of the positions of said supports.

WALLACE MAcWl'LlLIAMu REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date

